You’ve probably already read about our re-brand – here’s a reminder just in case. As Mike said we’re committed to radical transparency, so in that spirit, I’m going to talk about the work we’ve done so far on the Co-op website.

You may have noticed the changes that we’ve made already to the website. We’ve changed the font, logo, plus have introduced a new url structure that matches our new name – coop.co.uk. But we aren’t going to stop there.

We’re going to deliver a new service on coop.co.uk. I’m the product manager on the team that’s tasked with delivery of the new service. We’ll deliver a distinctive new service, slowly retiring the existing one from view.

Our vision for coop.co.uk

“Coop.co.uk ruthlessly focusses on better meeting the needs of customers, members and colleagues.

It’s supported by a range of tools and ways of working that gives Co-op the ability to respond fast to changing user needs and opportunities.”

Our first deliverable, an Alpha version of the corporate site (that’s the bit of the website that has lots of information about who we are, where we are, what we do, careers, press information etc), is coming soon. We’ll write about it here, so keep an eye on the blog. We’ll then iterate to both improve the service and expand its capability.

Getting to this point is a significant achievement by the new team:

We’re focussing on user needs throughout the design and build process.

We’ve explored processes and introduced tools required to publish content from across the business.

We’ve built an environment that allows us to continually deploy new versions.

True to ‘lean’ principals, we’re also incorporating metrics, to help us gauge how the service is performing. This will give us the ability to react and make changes when necessary. We’re always after feedback, so do let us know what you think.

I think the website currently is a bit of a mess – too much scrolling, the screen sizing doesn’t seem to adapt based on the monitor and/or device being used and menu options all in the wrong places. The UI is much cleaner but the layout needs much work.

I’m very disappointed that we’re dropping the coop domain. It showed solidarity with other Co-ops and raises the identity of the global movement and our different way of doing business. It’s use in encouraged by both the ICA and Co-operatives UK. We should promote the Co-op difference in every way we can. We are not a co!

What happened to the Co-op Let’s Talk website ? It appears to have been shut down. Has a replacement website been set up in order to post comments and share views and questions. Great shame that the old one has gone.